Chapter 48. The End
Several Spirit Realm explorers seized the opportunity and launched attacks on one another.
Although some of them had already prepared defenses, the earlier ambush on Fulan had drawn much of their attention away, giving others the perfect chance to strike.
“Ah!”
In an instant, two people were killed by their “companions.” Their attackers had carefully observed beforehand and confirmed that these targets truly possessed jade stones.
After seizing the jade stones, the attackers immediately fled without even glancing back.
Others who had managed to react in time and avoided being killed by their companions still worried that someone else might covet the jade stones in their possession.
As a result, they scattered as well, distancing themselves from the crowd.
Watching everyone around her suddenly fleeing, Fulan felt puzzled.
Why had they attacked one another so suddenly?
She finally understood why Welinte had ignored everyone else and chosen to cooperate with her instead.
So everyone had been planning to kill those around them and steal their jade stones.
Welinte had already drawn her weapon and remained on guard the moment Fulan was ambushed.
Only after Fulan had resolved the situation and the crowd dispersed due to the chaos did she speak.
“Are you alright? There are always people who think they can simply take what others have.”
“I am fine…”
Fulan noticed that when the person she killed disappeared earlier, a small pouch had fallen to the ground. She quietly picked it up.
Welinte did not notice Fulan retrieving the pouch. After hesitating for a moment, she asked,
“Um… do you have any powerful spells? And can you cast them multiple times?”
Originally, she had no such doubts. However, after witnessing Fulan instantly counter-kill the ambusher, she began to wonder.
At the apprentice stage, it was almost impossible for someone to excel equally in both melee combat and spellcasting. The investment simply was not worthwhile.
Once someone advanced to the official rank, training in another discipline would produce far better results than attempting to master both during the apprentice stage.
Even the Sword Chant School followed this principle. Apprentices were taught swordsmanship exclusively, while the spells they learned served only as auxiliary abilities.
“Yes, I do. I can cast them multiple times.”
Fulan answered confidently. After several battles in the Spirit Realm, her Wind Blade had already reached the proficient level. That certainly satisfied Welinte’s requirements.
Seeing Fulan’s confidence, Welinte could only choose to believe her and continued walking toward the platform.
Fulan was now her only option. She felt she could no longer find anyone else she could trust.
Regardless of whether Fulan truly possessed sufficient magical power, she had to assume that she did.
Seeking someone else now might only result in betrayal. Moreover, both she and Fulan already possessed two jade stones each, meaning neither had a motive to backstab the other.
At worst, they would simply accept the reward for obtaining two jade stones. That was still better than risking everything with someone else and potentially gaining nothing at all.
The two of them stepped onto the platform, maintaining a certain distance from the motionless vine giant.
“I will cut the vines here. Aim your spells at the areas without vines.”
They briefly discussed their attack strategy.
Welinte took a deep breath and concentrated her strength into her arms.
“Ha!”
She activated the Breathing Method. The muscles across her body trembled as her greatsword seemed to gain the weight of a thousand tons.
With a powerful downward slash, the greatsword left an afterimage in the air and slammed heavily into the rock, producing a terrifying crash. The stone even appeared to dent inward.
The sound of vines being sliced accompanied the impact, though it was mostly drowned out by the thunderous collision of sword and stone.
Sensing the attack, the vine giant began to move. The ground rumbled as it slowly stretched its body.
Before it could even extend its arms, a Wind Blade whistled through the air and struck its shoulder where no vines covered the surface.
The vine giant staggered backward as if struck by a heavy blow. A large chunk of stone was carved away from its shoulder, and the entire arm fell off with it.
“It worked!”
Welinte had not expected such an incredible result. The arm had been torn off with a single strike.
“Keep going!”
However, she also noticed that once the arm fell, the vines around the giant’s neck began growing rapidly, gradually covering more and more of its body.
Welinte had no time to look back. She had to constantly watch the vine giant’s movements to avoid being struck and knocked out of the Spirit Realm. If that happened, all their efforts would be wasted.
She raised her greatsword and slashed toward the giant’s other shoulder.
Her plan was to cut away the vines there first so that Fulan could remove the second arm as well.
That would make close combat far safer. A stone giant without arms could hardly launch flexible attacks.
The giant seemed to possess some intelligence. Realizing she was targeting its remaining arm, it stepped back to avoid the strike.
However, its body was simply too large.
Welinte’s greatsword struck its abdomen instead. A large patch of vines was blasted away, their severed ends turning black as the smooth stone surface of the giant’s belly was revealed.
Seizing the moment, Fulan launched another Wind Blade. The blade carried immense energy as it shot directly toward the giant’s abdomen.
The stone portions of the vine giant appeared to be extremely vulnerable to magic, producing an unexpected result.
A massive hole opened in the side of its abdomen. The upper and lower halves of its body remained connected only by a thin strip of rock.
This severely hindered the giant’s movements. It could feel that any large motion might cause its body to split apart completely.
At that moment, the giant almost wanted to curse the Domain Lord of the Jade Corridors who had designed it.
Why give me such a weakness? Couldn’t you just let me rely on my enormous size to fight them?
“Excellent spell!”
Welinte quickly observed the giant’s movements and realized it was struggling to maintain its balance. This was a perfect opportunity.
She immediately stepped forward and, without any unnecessary movement, struck the remaining half of the giant’s abdomen with her greatsword.
Then she cast a spell she had obtained during her exploration of the Spirit Realm: Lightning Impact.
Her hand shone with dazzling white light as she charged toward the target.
She believed this would be the final blow. After this strike, the vine giant should collapse completely and lose any ability to fight.
However, the attack only shattered half of the remaining rock. Some fragments still clung stubbornly in place.
Her pupils shrank in shock.
She had not expected this outcome. If Fulan’s spell possessed such destructive power, then even if her own spell was weaker, the difference should not have been this vast.
At the very least, it should have destroyed the remaining connection.
But the damage was far smaller than she had anticipated.
A terrifying thought surfaced in her mind.
That Laiyi not only surpassed her in strength, but her magical ability was also far superior.
A Wind Blade brushed past Welinte’s hair and struck the vine giant, completely separating its upper and lower halves.
The stone crashed onto the ground and rolled for a moment before the sound finally ceased.
Inside the giant’s chest—split open at some point—lay a green jade stone broken into two halves.